The Principles Of War And Operations

Historians have argued inconclusively for years over the prime reason for Confederate defeat in the Civil War. The book Why the North Won the Civil War outlines five of the most agreed upon causes of Southern defeat, each written by a highly esteemed American historian. The author of each essay does acknowledge and discuss the views of the other authors. However, each author also goes on to explain their botheration and disagreement with their opposition. The purpose of this essay is to summarize each of the five arguments presented by Richard N. Current, T. Harry Williams, Norman A. Graebner, David Herbert Donald, and David M. Potter. Each author gives his insight on one of the following five reasons:

During the American Civil War, leadership within the Union’s army was constantly an issue. Within the Union, various generals were found at times to be at odds with the political leaders in Washington. This was especially evident in the relationship between General George McClellan and President Lincoln. This tension was the result of McClellan’s approach to waging war. By examining the differing approaches to waging war of U.S. Grant and George B. McClellan one can gain a better appreciation for the decision making that was necessary by leaders like Lincoln, in selecting military

The Confederates tried to compare their goals too those of the Patriots in 1776. They said they were fighting for the “sacred right to self-govern”. Lincoln presented the secession as an attack on popular government. The Union at the start of the war tried to force rebellious states back into the Union through a military campaign after diplomacy had failed.

In 1863, “a great civil war” (Lincoln, 1863) was raging across the land and seas of the North American continent. Union and Confederate forces were locked in a deadly struggle for control of America’s future. Yet, despite the Union’s undeniable logistical and infrastructural advantages over the Confederacy, the war was not progressing in favour of the Union. The Confederate generals had managed to outsmart and outmaneuver the Union armies repeatedly, dealing defeat after defeat to the North, greatly demoralizing the populace. As such, the Confederates, who were fighting not to conquer the Union, but rather to survive, were inching

The confederacy fought to keep their rights for slaves and also wanted to secede from the United States and be on their own. The Union wanted to make their nation a place of freedom without slavery, but soldiers wanted to prove their own self worth in South. The Confederate soldiers acted in many different ways to achieve their goal of being honorable. The war fought between the North and South was a gruesome war and the Confederates thought that they could come out on top if they kept their honor alive.

What was the point of fighting to get the South back into the Union? The 16th president of our country was murdered on April 14, 1865. Disgusting. There were a lot of events that led up to that devastating day. After Lincoln’s re-election in 1864 he came up with a plan to kidnap our beloved president. Booth knew he couldn’t do this alone so he had some fellow confederate loyalists tag along. After his first two attempts to kidnap the president failed, a lot of Booth’s helpers left the group. On April 9, 1865, the confederate’s leader had surrendered and at that point the Union knew they would win this war. This did nothing but increase Booth’s urge to kill the president. Four days later, Booth’s plan would be carried out. Lincoln’s death was unjust because there was nearly no changes in the south, and the South and North had the same point of view towards blacks.

Both sides, the union and confederacy, had different opinions as to what honor for their country. The Union believed that should if they should fail in the fight for preservation of the union all that the original founders fought for would be lost. The Confederacy believed possessions, such as slaves, were part of the right to freedom. This is the main reason North wanted to separate from the confederacy. The division between the North and South were very apparent. The South was primarily fighting for “property and homes” (McPherson 117). On the other hand, the North was fighting for freedom of all men and unification.

Introduction: On the twelfth of April 1861, Union troops had just taken refuge in Fort Sumter under the cover of darkness. They were out number out gunned and running out of time. The newly formed Confederate States of America (CSA) had now occupied the five other military installations within the Garrison. At 0430, the first shot of the American Civil War rang out and Fort Sumter was fast under the barrage that the surrounding garrison forts occupied by the confederate forces (sumter). Major Anderson was reluctant to return fire, as his previous orders were not to be the aggressor. The first shots returned in volley to the confederate forces was by a private under the Major Anderson, who raced up to the third story of Fort Sumter where the largest artillery guns were loaded and ready to fire. In following his lead, other soldiers in the fort also began firing on the confederate antagonists (Civil War Journal: Destiny of Fort Sumter, 1993). Thirty four hours later Major Anderson surrendered the fort over to General Beauregard without a single loss of life on either side of the battle. However, death was soon to befall the soldiers of Fort Sumter. Thesis: The complete lack of organized military and government intelligence solidified the abysmal start to the civil war. If the Union leadership during the Buchanan administration had anticipated the treachery of the southern officers and leaders within the federal government then they could have prevented the secession

The Civil War was not the defeat of a hopeless rebellion. The Confederates had legitimate opportunity to win independence, but they failed to capitalize on it. The South’s chances at victory were not remote; rather they could expect to win. The ultimate cause of the South’s failure was a lack of aggression in all aspects. The two times the Confederates attacked the North at Antietam and Gettysburg, the results were catastrophic because of a lack of strategy. An offensive plan of war does not necessarily mean charging right at an opponent, who in this case had more than three times the number of men as the Confederates. Rather, an effective form of offense would be to attack northern factories, farms, and cities. This would damage the

This is mostly because the Confederates’ reasons for fighting seemed to more closely resemble those for which the colonists had fought the Revolutionary War. Lincoln claimed that secession was illegal, and that the southern states could not be allowed to secede. Yet this is exactly what the American colonists did when they declared independence from Britain in 1776 (the term “secession” may not have been used at the time, but the effect was the same- the formation of a new, independent nation and a severance of ties with the old one). The North had come to resemble the old Britain, using its economic power and greater legislative power to impose more federal control over the states, thereby gradually eroding the rights of the states and individual citizens to decide on their own local laws and customs. The Confederates sought to restore these rights, which were the same rights that the founders had left “to the states or to the people” in the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution (unfortunately, these amendments seem to be all but forgotten today, as the federal behemoth grows ever larger). The Union’s argument that secession would cause democracy to fail and monarchies to rise in their place, or that the United States would fragment into many small autocracies is mostly a red herring, although I believe that the Union soldiers who expressed these concerns sincerely believed them. The Confederacy did not seek to establish a monarchy, nor did it seek to break up the northern states into smaller political divisions. They simply wanted to be left alone so that they could determine their own political destiny. Is that not what the original founders of our country really fought

In the Civil war the North defeated the south, and as a result the Confederates were devastated. One of the consequences of the civil war was the amount of life that was taken during this time. The destruction of life and property were enormous. The south had many consequences as a result of the civil war. The confederates suffered economically by the civil war. Because most of the fighting was done in the south, a lot of the land was ruined. As a result the south had to rebuild. There was a lot of physical damage done to the region. Most of the best agricultural land were destroyed. Many major cities, like Richmond were destroyed, and farm values diminished. The Confederates believed the Union had limited their constitutional rights to make their own political, social and economic decision. To them the real issue was liberty not slavery. Both the North and the South had slaves, but by the end of the war many slaves were freed and a minority of slaves in the south fled to the union. African Americans weren’t allowed to enlists in neither armies, but as the war went on the union admitted black soldiers, but at a lower pay than the whites. ( Foner

While the development of guerrilla war does not factor into Weigley’s thesis that the United States has moved from a strategy of attrition to a strategy of annihilation, it is important in understanding how and why the United States made that change. For Weigley, this change came during the American Civil War when Grant became Commanding General of the Army. Grant did not believe the war could be won with a single, decisive victory against the Confederate Army, rather, he initiated a strategy to destroy the Confederate Armies through many battles and by attacking their economic resources. The orders to begin destroying the war resources of the Confederacy may have had their roots in the Western and Trans-Mississippian Theaters of the war because of frustrations associated with guerrilla war.

On April 18, 1861, in the town of Chambersburg, Virginia, there was held a large gathering of civilians who were ready to support the Union in going to war with the Confederacy, much similar to other meeting that occurred all throughout the Union. In a Valley Spirit newspaper article recounting the events of that day, it is stated, “ There is but one sentiment--one purpose--one determination among men of all political parties form, and that is, to stand up for the Government and sustain it in all efforts to put down rebellion and re-establish the Union”. Right away, the Union’s mission in going to war is stated. Their reason for going to war is to fight for the Government, in hopes of being able to reunite to Union with the Confederacy that had formed.

Over the years it has been accepted and believed that the main purpose of the Civil War was to abolish and end slavery. While this was a factor in the war, it was not Abraham Lincoln’s first priority when he ordered troops to take a stand and fight for their country. The Union was failing and Lincoln saw that the only way to keep the peace in the U.S. was to stop the South’s rapid succession from the North. About a third of the population had withdrawn from their territories and went on to establish a new and separate government. And Lincoln was forced to deal with one of the biggest problems in the Union with little knowledge and support for his cause.

War is what happens when multiple parties do not agree on a common objective or when opposing parties want to create conflict between each other. In war, I feel like the bad has always and will always outweigh the good. People die, get injured, or come back home mentally unstable; sometimes they do not even have a home to come back to. As long as I can remember, there has been war. I would hear people talking about war, going to war, and watching videos on the television about war. War is everywhere. Inner war, war between family members, war between friends, war between states, as well as war between countries. Regardless, war is everywhere; and it affects everything and everyone in its path of destruction. Although some things may be gained from war, the losses are always greater. Therefore based on different viewpoints from material covered in class and my knowledge of war, my feelings about the war have been reinforced.